US seizes Nigerian-owned supertanker over alleged crude theft

File: An oil vessel

The United States Coast Guard, in collaboration with the US Navy, has intercepted a Nigerian-owned supertanker, Skipper, over allegations of crude oil theft, piracy, and other transnational crimes. The vessel, a 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier, VLCC, with IMO Number 9304667, is reportedly owned and managed by Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd., though its registered owner is listed as Triton Navigation Corp., headquartered in the Marshall Islands. Authorities said the tanker was illegally flying the Guyanese flag at the time of its arrest.

In a swift rebuttal, Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department, MARAD, confirmed that Skipper is not on its national ship registry and was using the country’s flag without authorisation.

According to US security sources, the seizure was carried out under American law enforcement authority, with President Donald Trump announcing the operation.

Beyond suspicions of stolen crude, the vessel is also being investigated for allegedly transporting a large consignment of hard drugs and operating within a network backed by suspected Iranian and other Islamist-linked money-laundering financiers.

A check with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Abuja, showed that Thomarose is inactive.

Further checks by Vanguard showed that Thomarose’s corporate address is listed as 111 Jakpa Road, Effurun, Warri, Delta State, with CAC registration number 1007876.
However, there are no phone numbers linked to the company.

It shows weakness in our Port State Control regime — CMS president, Olaniyan

Reacting to the seizure, the President of the Centre for Marine Surveyors, Nigeria, Engr. Akin Olaniyan, said that if the vessel indeed departed from Nigeria before being intercepted, it would indicate weaknesses in Nigeria’s Port State Control regime.

According to him, “If the vessel emanated from Nigeria, it suggests our Port State Control is practically non-existent. It also means any vessel leaving Nigerian waters may come under stricter scrutiny by Port State Control authorities in other countries. This issue has nothing to do with Nigeria as a country, but with regulatory enforcement.” Similarly, the National President of Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, OGSPAN, Mazi Colman Obasi, said: “I have never heard that Nigeria has a supertanker and that it is not active in CAC. I don’t even know if stakeholders are aware. Anyway, the government and other agencies can do more.”